


there's a boy, there's a boy

by Authoress



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Gratuitous ocean metaphors, M/M, Ocean Shenanigans, baton pass ruined my life, happy puka puka day, it's rated t but that's overkill tbh it's just kissies, kissing practice kind of, playing hooky for a beach day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 15:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11947365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Authoress/pseuds/Authoress
Summary: The first time Chiaki ever skipped class, Kanata taught him mouth-to-mouth.





	there's a boy, there's a boy

**Author's Note:**

> me: hello muse can we write some normal chiakana for puka day  
> my muse: hey buddy go fuck yourself

 

_you_

_are creating all the bubbles at night_

_i’m_

_chasing round trying to pop them all the time_

_we_

_don’t need to trust a single word they say_

_you_

_are creating all the bubbles at play_

 

i.

 

“Chiaki, let’s play ‘hooky.’”

Chiaki looks up from where he’s fishing around his backpack to see Kanata standing in front of his desk, hands clasped behind his back and the hint of a smile. Chiaki tries to say something along the lines of ‘what are you doing here Kanata?’ but, considering the bread stuffed in his mouth, it comes out more like, “Hut are hoo hoing here Hanata?”

He frowns around the mouthful of bread, makes a heroic effort at trying to swallow it all, and ends up gagging, considering that bread, when swallowed in a hurry, is about as friendly to an esophagus as a chunk of coal. Chiaki doubles over coughing and Kanata offers some tender pats on the back.

When Chiaki finally manages to choke it down, watery-eyed and wincing as he feels the lump slide down his throat, he offers Kanata a weak smile. “Haha, it’s really quite good, I promise! No worries, no worries. What are you doing here anyway, Kanata?”

“It’s ‘time’ to go to the sea,” Kanata says. “Chiaki, let’s play hooky.”

“Uh, I totally don’t get what you’re saying,” Chiaki says. “If you want to go to the beach, we can go after school. It’s not like we have homework or lives to prepare for.”

Kanata shakes his head. “I want to go now.”

“We can’t go now, school starts in…ten minutes. We’ll totally get chewed out if we skip, even if we’re third years. Besides, we have a responsibility to set a good example for— _whoa_!”

Kanata threads his fingers through Chiaki’s and yanks him out of his seat, sending him stumbling across the room and out the door. Chiaki grabs onto the corner of the door, halting the Kanata tow service only long enough to make pleading eyes at Izumi and for Izumi to offer him a sarcastic wave goodbye before Chiaki is being pulled down the hall and away from his beloved compulsory education.

His backpack, wallet, keys, and store bought bento and curry pan remain behind, abandoned to stronger tides.

 

ii.

 

It was always like this, wasn’t it?

Kanata was an odd bird, even before being bestowed the title of an ‘oddball.’ Chiaki himself might’ve been a fraud, faking his way to heroism and confidence and hiding any insecurities he had to the point that it troubled those around him, but Kanata was a walking contradiction. A child of the ocean, but he couldn’t swim. Gentle and calm in voice and touch and action, but able to turn to ferocity and quiet violence on a dime. A great listener, but offered nonsensical non sequiturs instead of straightforward advice. Fussed over Chiaki’s health but jumped into fountains when the forecast promised snow—the list went on.

Chiaki couldn’t claim to understand him, not at all. Kanata was fathomless as the ocean—once Chiaki understood him on one or even two levels, it turned out there were unknowable layers hidden beyond what he could see. And like the ocean, the layers only got deeper and darker, harder for land-dwelling mortals like Chiaki to penetrate and to understand.

That was alright, though. Why would Chiaki spend time digging to a person’s very soul when he could just become friends with them instead? Things like soul-searching and secret-sharing…those came later. Those weren’t prerequisites for friendship. Kaoru and Madara might know about Kanata’s past, and might even understand him as a person, but as for Chiaki, he was just fine with knowing Kanata as he knew him. He liked him! Kanata was Kanata was Kanata, and Chiaki was perfectly fine with opening his heart to the Kanata he had come to befriend.

That being said, sometimes Kanata’s eccentricities could get out of control. Rivers flowed in one direction, predictable and familiar, until one day, they didn’t. And complacent, well-behaved Kanata could turn the tables on Chiaki at any moment.

The ocean, why the ocean? It wasn’t like it was far by any means. Kanata could and probably did visit on the weekends or after school and when he graduated he could put up a straw hut and _live_ by the ocean if he so desired. Chiaki knew for a fact that Kanata visited the ocean on a regular basis. So why during school hours? Why on a Tuesday? Why _Chiaki_?

(Ah. Perhaps this is how Midori felt about him, being strong-armed into activities he had no interest in participating in. Although Chiaki’s activities tended to be related to their unit or club, not flights of fancy from a self-proclaimed ocean child. Karmic judgement being passed, maybe? Chiaki’s brain hurts.)

Escape? Impossible. Kanata (walking contradiction!) only looked soft. He could pulverize Chiaki in an arm wrestling contest and he had the grip of an Alaskan king crab. Chiaki would have better luck prying his hand out of an octopus’s tentacles, or stopping a speedboat from towing him along with only dive fins. To Chiaki’s chagrin, lifting fish tanks and hauling five gallon buckets for water exchanges of said tanks topped basketball club practice. If he could free himself, maybe he could outrun Kanata, but Kanata’s determination was nothing to underestimate.

But well…Kanata had a point. This late in the year, with all the major lives passed and only Repayment Fes to go, teachers had been lax about homework. Less ‘go home and study’ and more ‘fill out these career interest tests’ and ‘start making connections with these companies’ and ‘how to call and how to dress and how to interview’ and ‘unpaid internships’ and ‘what to do with your diploma if you can’t make it in the entertainment industry’ and—

And. Maybe Chiaki was a little bit sick of hearing it, too.

There was this other thing—aw, but it was cheesy. If he thought too hard about it, he’d really start tearing up. No, he would just think of this as a break from the work, an involuntary field trip that he could claim kidnapping when his teachers scolded him tomorrow.

(See, it was like this: if you know someone, like _really_ know them, reading body language becomes second nature. Kanata’s body language was as much of an enigma as he was. Wrists flexed, bobbing and floating, the gentle sway of his shoulders and his hips, the slight tilt of his head and a _puka puka_. Always fluid and (almost) always slow. Even when he danced, he drew the audience into an almost trancelike state. Chiaki had to be careful he didn’t get mesmerized watching him. Even when upset, Kanata might still for a moment before he returned to floating, his voice even and soft even as he threatened to rid the world of some annoyance. Even to the trained Chiaki eye, that kind of body language could be hard to read.

But his eyes.

The soft crinkle and gentle narrowing of his eyes when he saw their kids and Souma. The half-squint and bright shine when he saw the other oddballs and his friends. The wide, unblinking focus when looking at Eichi or Madara or Keito or any other enemy. And most importantly, the sunburst-bright sparkle and childishly wide-eyed wonder of seeing a shark swim by in an aquarium, or at the first scent of salt on their way to the beach, or dropping a marine biology fact at the perfect moment, or splashing in the fountain, or…Chiaki has a whole album in his mind’s eye, the times he’s seen Kanata truly happy and truly in love.

It was hard to think he’d have to let go of something that precious to him. So if it’s just for one day, or just a couple hours, or even just a moment—Chiaki would like to take the time to treasure the way Kanata shines when he’s around water.

And when Kanata looked at Chiaki—)

 

iii.

 

Kanata frees Chiaki only once their shoes sink into white sand and the calls of songbirds have been replaced by the cries of gulls. Kanata looses his hand from Chiaki’s and sprints full speed towards the ocean. Chiaki thinks to call, “Wait—Kanata, it’s still too cold to—” but when had that ever stopped Kanata before?

Chiaki scratches the back of his neck. Was that his doing? Headstrongness shouldn’t be contagious, but maybe there were different rules for idiots like Chiaki. Oops.

Fortunately, Kanata doesn’t run straight into the water. He comes up short where the soft white sand gives way to damp brown sand, firmly packed and strung through with veins of cracked seashells. Kanata neatly steps out of his shoes, pulling off his socks and tucking them in. He rolls up his pant legs into crumpled bundles and only then does he trot into the water without hesitation. Chiaki follows behind, slower.

Chiaki leans down to pull his heel out of his shoe as well, mostly because he’s got sand stuck places sand shouldn’t be stuck, but also because despite his initial objections, Chiaki does like the feeling of sand between his toes. He stumbles a little when he looks up.

Kanata spreads his arms wide. Chiaki can see the dips of muscle across his back as he stretches his arms to their full wingspan, down to the push of his fingertips outwards. Morning sunlight turns the tips of Kanata’s hair white. The bottoms of his pants are damp. Chiaki sees Kanata take a deep breath in and out, and it sounds like the bubble of the tide on the shore.

Kanata spins around and swings his arms, lips parted in a smile.

Chiaki drops his sock, fumbles the catch, and ends up with handfuls of sand and a dirty sock. When he looks back up, Kanata is looking off to the side, one hand covering his mouth. Chiaki can’t see his smile, but Kanata’s eyes are crinkled and dancing.

(And when Kanata looked at Chiaki—)

Feeling like an absolute fool for no reason he can ascertain, Chiaki waves his sock at Kanata. “Got it!”

Kanata lowers his hand to clap politely. “Come into the water, Chiaki,” he says.

“Eh? No way, it’ll be cold,” Chiaki says.

Kanata shakes his head. “No, rather than ‘cold,’ it’s ‘nice.’”

Chiaki narrows his eyes. “You sure it’s not too cold?”

Kanata shakes his head harder.

Chiaki walks up to the water, the waves pulling away from him before sending a foamy rush over his toes and ankles. A _freezing_ foamy rush.

Chiaki yelps. “Uwah? Kanata, you lied! This isn’t nice at all!”

Kanata’s eyes are still dancing. “Fufufu…I ‘tricked’ Chiaki.”

“Oi, is that any way for Ryuusei Blue to be acting?” Chiaki says. “Luring your beloved comrade into a mean trap like that—aren’t you a bit more like a villain today? First kidnapping, now deception? No—don’t tell me! Is this your villain origin story? Is this the arc where one of heroes joins the dark side?”

Kanata wiggles his fingers. “That’s right. I’ve been ‘taken’ by the ocean and switched ‘sides.’ I’m now your sworn ‘enemy,’ sent to drag you to your doom and sacrifice you to the water.”

Chiaki clutches his chest. “Brainwashing? That dastardly ocean…however, it is nothing the power of love and friendship can’t overcome! Just you wait, Ryuusei Blue—I’ll definitely save you!”

Rolling up his pant legs as well, Chiaki dashes into the water, chasing after Kanata, who laughs and sprints away. In the water, Chiaki is no match for Kanata who knows exactly how to wade through shin-deep waters, but Kanata keeps casting glances backwards and slowing up, teasing, before darting off again. When Chiaki lunges and gets too close, Kanata leans down to splash water at him. Chiaki sputters and returns in kind, kicking up water at Kanata. Kanata’s eyes go wide at the unexpected assault, and then their chase turns into a splashing fest, soaking their shirts and jackets and pants through until Chiaki is shivering.

It’s funny, though—he doesn’t feel cold at all.

Seawater flattens Kanata’s hair to his head and drips from his eyelashes. It runs down his cheeks like shed tears, but Kanata is smiling with those same cheeks, mouth turned up so sweetly and eyes softened to a gentle twinkle. His shirt is plastered to him, making him look smaller than normal, but when he lets out a tiny bubble of a laugh into his fist, Chiaki finds that Kanata fills his entire range of vision.

“Chiaki is soaked,” Kanata says. “You look so silly.”

“And who’s fault do you think that is, huh?” Chiaki says. His chest is swelling the same way it does when Ryuuseitai harmonizes perfectly, or when he can physically hear the passion in his unit’s introductions, or after the first day of basketball training camp when all his muscles ache. It feels like he’ll burst if he doesn’t do something with this feeling threatening to overwhelm him.

Chiaki wraps his arms around Kanata’s waist and hauls him into the air. It’s a hug, in a way, Chiaki justifies to himself. Besides, Kanata was one of the few who accepted his hugs readily. Kanata laughs again, louder this time, resting his hands on Chiaki’s shoulders. He smiles down at Chiaki, cheeks pink, and Chiaki really does burst. He spins Kanata around and around while Kanata laughs until he feels the pressure against his ribcage recede just a little. He drops Kanata back onto his feet, but his hands are still on Kanata’s waist and Kanata’s hands are still on Chiaki’s shoulders.

“Chiaki, Chiaki,” Kanata says. “Rather than ‘puka puka,’ just then I was ‘basa basa,’ wasn’t I?”

“Eh? Kanata…you can’t just go around changing your image so suddenly,” Chiaki says. “What would our kids think if suddenly you started standing on the edges of buildings and running around flapping your arms?” He taps Kanata on the nose and Kanata wrinkles his nose.

“‘Basa basa’ could be fun, though,” Kanata says.

“No way!” Chiaki says. “Kanata is Kanata. We’ve already gotten accustomed to your weirdness so switching it up is out of the question. ‘Puka puka’ is perfect just the way he is, you know?”

“Ehehe,” Kanata says. “Somehow, it makes me really ‘happy’ to hear you say that.”

Kanata’s hands are very, very warm. Chiaki thinks that’s a bit strange, given that most of the time Kanata is cool to the touch, but his hands burn through the material of Chiaki’s jacket and warm his shoulders. He kind of wants Kanata to press his hands to Chiaki’s neck and warm him up, then maybe over his chest, because he’s a little cold there, too. And his ears. And his nose. And maybe his back.

Kanata presses his forehead to Chiaki’s. Their noses touch and Chiaki crinkles his unconsciously. Kanata’s hands curl around the back of Chiaki’s neck and Chiaki wants to melt at how good the warmth feels.

“Hey, Chiaki,” Kanata says softly. “What are you thinking about?”

His gentle exhalations tease Chiaki’s lips. Chiaki looks into Kanata’s eyes.

(And when Kanata looked at Chiaki—)

He smiles. “Lately, it’s like all I can think about is you,” Chiaki says.

Kanata rubs their noses together. Chiaki laughs. “Ah, stop, it tickles!”

“Chiaki is so honest, isn’t he?” Kanata says. “Good boy, good boy. It’s one of the things I like ‘best’ about you.”

“Ah. I’m also thinking about how cold I am, too.”

Kanata hums. “Well, Chiaki is a ‘human’ after all. If I dragged you into the ‘ocean’ with me, you would only drown.”

“You say that, but you can’t swim either,” Chiaki points out. “I couldn’t just leave you in the ocean on your own. If you sink too deep, I’ll be there to pull you out, okay? Kanata is peculiar, but he’s a human, too. Humans need to rely on other humans to survive.”

“If it’s for you,” Kanata says, “I think I can come up for ‘air.’ At least for a little longer.”

“A lot longer!” Chiaki protests, rubbing noses with Kanata again. “I want to be with you lots and lots! No matter where we go—it’s better if we’re together.”

“I think I—” Kanata starts to say, then shakes his head. “If I say something like ‘that,’ Chiaki will definitely be ‘confused.’”

“Huh? Like what?” Chiaki asks.

Kanata leans back and presses a finger to Chiaki’s lips. “For now, it’s my ‘secret.’”

 

iv.

 

They collapse on the beach, even though they’re both wet and the sand sticks to them like breadcrumbs. It’s not even _warm_ and Chiaki complains about getting sand in places he didn’t know sand could get stuck and if Kanata was going to drag him to the beach, couldn’t he at least bring a _towel_ or something, really, they couldn’t go back to school like this.

Kanata doesn’t listen to a single word Chiaki says. He’s splayed out across the sand, smiling serenely into the sun. Chiaki grumbles a little more to himself but ends up lying back in the sand anyway and squishing his toes in the white powder. They lie there until their clothes get dry and salty and bend like cardboard instead of fabric. Chiaki can feel salt crusting his cheeks and his eyelashes and in his hair, but he’s finally warm and content to lie out on the beach until his skin begins to burn.

“Chiaki,” Kanata says. “I have a gift for you.”

Chiaki makes a noise in his throat. “Oh, but it’s not White Day yet? Wait—are we giving each other gifts on White Day? Agh, I haven’t thought of anything, you have to give a guy more warning!”

Kanata sits up on his elbow and leans over Chiaki. “That’s because it’s a ‘surprise gift.’”

Chiaki peers around him curiously. “You brought it with you?”

“Mmhmm,” Kanata says. “Although you can’t see it.”

“Okay,” Chiaki says. “What is it?”

“Chiaki promised he would rescue me,” Kanata says. “But do you even know how to ‘rescue’ a person who’s drowning?”

“Er,” Chiaki says. “Try my best? Take a lifeguarding course?”

“Nothing so complex,” Kanata says. “It’s really simple; it’s about feelings.”

“I don’t think—”

“Close your eyes,” Kanata says.

Chiaki doesn’t have any reason to refuse, so he does.

There’s nothing for a long moment, and Chiaki wonders if this is another of Kanata’s tricks, if maybe he’s going to pour water on him or run away. Or both. When he feels the soft tickle of hair against his cheek he flinches and almost opens his eyes. But this was Kanata. If he couldn’t trust Kanata, then who on earth _could_ he trust?

Kanata presses his forehead against Chiaki’s again. His skin is warm from the sun and his shadow cools Chiaki’s face. His nose is as salt-crusty as Chiaki’s and Chiaki smiles at the thought of Kanata sneezing because he had too much salt up his nose, like a marine iguana. He’s not sure what any of this has to do with saving lives, but he’s content.

Kanata’s mouth presses against his, and this time Chiaki does flinch. Wow, that was unexpected! This was a really strange life-saving demonstration. Oh, but Chiaki knew what was going on now. Kanata was trying to show him mouth-to-mouth. Of course, Chiaki had heard chest compressions were more important, but maybe this technique was hard to learn without a partner?

Kanata hasn’t moved though, and Chiaki thinks that this is probably not the most effective way to get oxygen into a patient’s lungs. Not that Kanata’s mouth doesn’t feel nice against his—Kanata is pretty like a girl even though he has the proud heart of a man and Chiaki often found himself thinking that his girlfriend should really have lips like Kanata’s, soft pink with a plumper lower lip. Yep, if Chiaki was going to kiss someone, he’d hope that it would be someone with a mouth like Kanata’s.

Still, this is a little anticlimactic, so Chiaki gently nudges his mouth against Kanata’s, encouraging him to continue. It works. Kanata leans back enough that their lips only barely touch, then he leans back in again, tilting his head at an angle to better slot their mouths together. To better access their airways, perhaps? It feels so nice, like a little massage. Chiaki knows patients are supposed to sit quietly, but he wants to practice, too, and he moves against Kanata as well.

Maybe that’s all there is to it, maybe that’s—

Kanata’s tongue slides against Chiaki’s lips and he parts them to suck in a breath. Kanata presses in again, gently, just the hint of tongue against Chiaki’s mouth and tugging at his lower lip to part it wider. Oh…this must be a technique then…surprising the patient into opening their mouth and then tugging…and then…they opened their mouth…and then…and then…

And then Kanata really does slide his tongue into Chiaki’s mouth and Chiaki can’t think anymore. The sensation of someone else’s tongue in his mouth makes him jittery, makes goosebumps break out across his skin. It feels like an itch under his skin that he can’t quite reach and electric enough to make his heart race.

Chiaki leans up, tilts his head in kind because it feels even _better_ like that. It feels better when he moves his tongue against Kanata’s and they’re so tangled in each other he can’t tell where one of them ends and the other begins. Every brush of Kanata against him makes the base of his spine tingle. Chiaki thinks Kanata might be the crest of a wave and Chiaki is just the undertow, pulled along by a force of nature himself. Chiaki thinks that even though he’s lying on a beach, he might be drifting through aphotic waters, because nothing exists outside the vacuum of him and Kanata in this moment.

_You are ancient and unknowable_ , Chiaki thinks nonsensically. _I am nothing more than the archaea basking in your life-giving waters. If ever the sun were to die, I know I could live off of you and you alone._

And then it’s over and Kanata pulls away, letting the sun shine back down in Chiaki’s face and he opens his eyes. His mouth feels soft and newborn and wet. He can’t quite close it yet because his nerves are still singing from contact with Kanata and he doesn’t want to let that feeling go. He feels better seeing Kanata’s lips parted too, his eyes half-lidded.

“If I’m ever dying,” Kanata whispers. “If I’m ever twisting and suffocating on the ocean floor, my lungs crushed from pressure and unable to tell up from down, I’ll need you to save me. And if all else fails and you don’t know what to do, do that. It doesn’t matter how deeply I’ve sunk; I will return to you.”

“Okay,” Chiaki croaks.

“It is ‘strange,’ and I don’t want to burden you with ‘why’—”

“Hey,” Chiaki says quietly, reaching out to take Kanata’s hand and squeezing it. “It’s not strange.”

Kanata smiles, cheeks rosy. “Chiaki is a kind person.”

“It’s because I love you,” Chiaki says.

(He stutters on the word ‘love,’ but why? Of course he loves Kanata; he loves all his friends and his comrades. He loves everyone in his club and everyone in his class and he _loves_ Kanata—)

“I know,” Kanata says. “I love you too.” He squeezes Chiaki’s hand back.

“And I’ll…I’ll definitely save you,” Chiaki says. “Even if I have to die to save you, I’ll do it.”

“That’s because it’s who you are,” Kanata says. “Chiaki’s ‘love’ is ‘infinite’—there’s no stronger force in the world, so one day I might have to borrow it again.”

“It’s yours,” Chiaki says.

Kanata leans in and presses his mouth to Chiaki’s once more.

(And when Kanata looked at Chiaki it was with wide, trusting eyes and with narrow half-moons from the strength of his smile and with a soft, familial glimmer and with the shine of discovering a new species of fish and sometimes Kanata looked at Chiaki up through his eyelashes and then away, secretive, and it didn’t matter _how_ Kanata looked at Chiaki because it was everything at once, Chiaki possessed every emotion Kanata had, and knowing that _his_ look was _every_ look was like saying Kanata’s world was Chiaki, and then Chiaki’s heart was a fishtank overflowing, leaking an emotion he couldn’t name through spiderweb cracks in a frame about to shatter.)

(But when Chiaki wasn’t looking—)

 

_there’s a girl, there’s a girl, there’s a girl, there’s a girl_

_and she’s down by the river_

_in her own creepy world, there’s a girl, there’s a girl_

_and she’s down by the river_

_it’s time to consider_

_that baby is a sinner_

_she’ll wash away your sins_

_and go home_

**Author's Note:**

> remember when in baton pass chiaki said he'd use the mouth-to-mouth kanata taught him on midori? yeah me neither.
> 
> [ this is a very very important chiakana song and you're missing out by not listening to it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxUb9Yzr1sE)
> 
> i keep forgetting to link my twitter hello: [@izuleos](https://twitter.com/izuleos)


End file.
